WELSH Health Minister Edwina Hart has revealed there are still no confirmed cases of swine flu in Wales.

But Ms Hart said she still expects to see cases in Wales “in the near future”.

Latest figures reveal 79 possible cases here have been ruled out, leaving six still under investigation. All these patients are related to travel to Mexico and the US and are displaying, or have displayed, mild symptoms.

Across the globe, 40 countries (including the UK) have reported cases of swine flu and the latest indications are that there are more than 8,500 cases of H1N1 virus – including 72 deaths There are now confirmed cases on every continent.

There has been no change in the World Health Organisation’s pandemic flu alert level – this remains at phase five which reflects widespread human to human transmission.

As at 5pm on Tuesday, there were 107 confirmed cases in the UK which is an increase of 39 cases on the previous week, she said.